Perris News

Got Big Stuff to Dump? Call CR&R to Haul it Away

City residents unloading trash during the recent annual clean up day in October.

Perris City officials say dumping trash in vacant lots or along the side of the road is expensive, ugly and potentially hazardous.

It’s also unnecessary.

Residents can call the local waste-hauler—CR&R—once a week and request pickups for items like mattresses, couches appliances and other large items.

Residents may leave out up to five items per pickup and are allowed unlimited number of pickups per year. They are picked up every Tuesday.

“There is absolutely no reason to discard trash in public,” said Daryl Hartwill, Public Works Manager. “There is no excuse. Trash and garbage will be picked up.”

Hartwill said the City is in the midst of a major assault on trash, with both Public Works employees and contractors tackling the nuisance. They’ve attacked the areas near Mapes Road, Case Road, Placentia Avenue, Water Avenue and Sherman Avenue. Hartwill said illegal dumping is a problem in many communities in California.

City Manager Richard Belmudez tosses a tire into a waiting truck during an annual City-wide cleanup.

Refuse like tires and waste oils are particularly challenging.

Tires cannot be buried or burned because they would release toxic chemical. They are ground up and used for playground equipment and exercise mats, he said. Waste oil is sometimes found in cans and five-gallon jugs alongside the road. Should they spill onto the ground and contaminate it, the City must clean up the spill and neutralize its effects.

“That gets to be expensive and time-consuming,” Hartwill said.

City official say they are pleased with the efforts to fight illegal trash tossing and heartened by CR&R’s weekly large-item pickups. Perris also participates in two major citywide cleanups a year, which always attract large numbers of residents. The two one-day cleanups in 2009 netted more than 500 tons of trash—that’s 1 million pounds—collected from Perris households.